With advent of flat screen televisions, more and more consumers are utilizing flat screen televisions not only for their excellent picture quality but also because they are less bulky and more decorative. As a result, many consumers mount their television sets on a wall, for example above a fireplace, etc.
In general, flat screen televisions have high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) capability. HDMI facilitates uncompressed digital signals for the highest picture and sound quality. Moreover, the HDMI cable provides one common cable for video, audio and control signals and enables communication and control between electronic devices instead of having individual and separate cables for video, audio and control signals, etc. Additionally, HDMI cables are compatible with personal computers (PC). Furthermore, the HDMI signal automatically displays and matches for resolution, format and aspect ratio.
Even though a wall mounted television is visually pleasing, it nevertheless requires a signal and a power cable to transfer content and control signals. While some users may be able to route AC power or pay technicians to route AC power near to the set, most flat screen television sets that are HDMI capable still have the visible HDMI cable hanging from the wall. Moreover, passing through an HDMI cable, like routing AC power, is difficult and relatively technical and expensive.
Unfortunately, HDMI cables are large and visible, e.g., some cables are 5-6 mm in diameter. Thus, when an HDMI cable is connected to a television set mounted on a wall, the HDMI cable is visible, hard to conceal and hangs down from the side of the wall as it connects to another electronic device, e.g., receiver, DVD player, etc. An HDMI cable hanging from a mounted television set is neither decorative nor practical.
HDMI cables that are flatter than the conventional round HDMI cable have been developed. However, even the flatter version is still visible. For example, the flatter version is in general about 4 mm thick.
Fattening an HDMI cable may be possible, but physical characteristics of the HDMI cable change in the process. For example, controlling the attenuation and impedance become very difficult in a flattened cable. Thus, flattening an HDMI cable, while possible, makes it challenging for the HDMI cable to pass HDMI compliance tests.
HDMI compliance testing is generally subject to two separate tests. The first test may be referred to as an “eye pattern” test where an actual signal representing the worst case source device output is fed through the cable and the output at the other end of the cable is measured graphically on an oscilloscope. The eye pattern test shows the height of the “eye” representing the signal amplitude that should not fall into or become smaller than a given threshold. The eye pattern test may also show the rising and failing edges of digital bits that do not always occur at the same time, thereby leading to timing jitter. The internal width of the eye cannot fall into or become narrower than a given threshold. In other words, if the signal collapses in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, the signal is lost. The second test may be referred to as the “parametric test” where various attributes such as skew, crosstalk and attenuation are measured.
In another effort to eliminate the visual HDMI cables, a wireless HDMI technology, e.g., radio frequency (RF) technology, may be used. Wireless HDMI technology uses wireless communication while taking advantage of HDMI technology. Unfortunately, while wireless HDMI may provide communication wirelessly and eliminate the visible cable, it is expensive to implement. Thus, wireless HDMI is not readily used by a wide range of consumers.